FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Admitting failure like drinking bitter tea.”
Moving along on our Charlie Chan Film Tour 2017, our film for this week is “Charlie Chan in Egypt,” starring Warner Oland. This is the third of the “connected” Chan adventures, as Charlie Chan extends his travels on his route back to Honolulu. In this picture, Chan finds himself in the ancient land of the Pharaohs on a mission from the French Archeological Society following last week’s visit to Paris which immediately takes a menacing detour!
As is our custom, we begin arriving at 7:30 Eastern Time, we will be sharing, before our featured presentation, an “extra” in the form of a vintage Charlie Chan continuing radio drama!
OUR PRESENTATIONS:
1.“The Landini Murder Case” (part 16) radio program (Circa 1936; Runtime: 14:21)
2.“Charlie Chan in Egypt” (1935; Runtime: 72 minutes)
FILM SUMMARY: Charlie Chan travels to Egypt on behalf of the French Archeological Society to investigate Professor Arnold's excavation of Ahmeti's tomb, as artifacts from the tomb have been found in other museums, contrary to the agreement that Arnold had made with the Society. When the archaeologist disappears during the excavation of other ancient art treasures, Chan must sort out the stories of the archaeological team to find out why priceless treasures are ending up in the hands of private collectors, while confronting a series of seemingly supernatural events.
NOTES: The American Film Institute Catalog correctly lists the running time for “Charlie Chan in Egypt” as 72 minutes. However, recent sources have stated that it is actually 65 minutes in length. The larger figure certainly relates to the original running time, while the smaller running time may indicate that some surviving prints of this film have been shortened. The music and the appearance of the opening title and credits lend further credence to this probability, as the music and accompanying sound of water splashing can be traced to a scene that occurs 51 minutes into the film. It is likely that the original opening title sequence has been lost and the current version was a reconstruction, possibly owing the film having been shortened in length at some point in its existence.
TIME: We begin with arrivals and greetings at 7:30 EASTERN TIME. Then, we share our “extra,” which will be followed at exactly 8:15 (EST) when we share our featured presentation, “Charlie Chan in Egypt.”
LOCATION: Our Charlie Chan Family Chat Room, which is accessed at http://www.charliechan.info/id17.html.
IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FEATURES: Often our features can be found available online. GOOD NEWS! For those lacking a copy of “Charlie Chan in Egypt,” our movie is presently available online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY7O1RXmLEA. (NOTE: This online presentation may contain commercials on occasion throughout the movie. After a few seconds, you can click on “Skip Ad” to return to the movie.) Our “extra” can be found at: https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/crime/charlie-chan/charlie-chan-16-landini
NEXT WEEK: Please join with us as we share two episodes from “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan”: “The Great Salvos” and “The Counterfeiters,” as we celebrate the birthday of “Number One Son” James Hong!
